NEHJ's 16th annual summer hockey camp guide

As the weather gets warm and the calendar flips from June to
July and onto August, NHL players officially are in offseason mode,
resting up after a long, arduous season. But for young hockey
players, many of whom hope to reach such great heights one day, the
summer is official training season.

Hockey camps strive to make the camp experience fun for young
players -- on and off the ice. (Photo courtesy of Can/Am
Hockey)

Hockey camps now can be found from coast to coast, offering kids
of all ages a chance to hone their skills with top-flight
instructors.

But with so many places to choose from, how does a parent know
which one is right for their son or daughter? How can they assure
their child’s experience will be not only enjoyable but also
beneficial to their game?

With the help of Superskills Hockey’s Mario Martiniello,
Planet Hockey’s Shawn Killian and Can/Am’s Kevin
Willhausen, New England Hockey Journal offers a guide on how to
pick the right camp for your kid.

Safety first

Though the importance of safety may not jump to the forefront of
a parent’s thoughts when deciding on where to send their
child during the summer, it’s something that cannot be
overlooked.

Each town and state has a set list of requirements a camp must
meet in order to be properly certified. Make sure your prospective
camp passes their checklist.

“Not everybody meets them, I hate to admit it,”
Martiniello said. “You’re supposed to put it in your
brochure that you’re compliant with the local board of health
and the state of Massachusetts. That’s a requirement for any
camp, not just hockey camps.

“My feeling is if a company isn’t willing to go
through that process, are they really going to make sure your child
is safe? You want to make sure they’re going to be protecting
your child.”

As Martiniello suggests, do your best to make sure the camp is
hiring the right people and doing proper background checks on their
potential employees. Also, don’t get fussy when the camp asks
for an extensive amount of info on your application, because
it’s a necessary part of the process.

“My wife signed my kids up for camp and she said,
‘Can you believe they’re asking for all this
stuff?’” Martiniello said. “I said, ‘Yep.
Fill it out. I’m glad they are.’”

Get on the phone

Detailed brochures and websites are a great tool for parents to
utilize, but there’s no better way of fully knowing what a
camp has to offer than getting on the phone and talking to each
group’s directors.

“Ask a slew of questions that are important to them,
whether they have a goaltender, a 16-year-old or a young girl
that’s just beginning,” Killian suggested. “Ask
if the camp is appropriate, if the camp conducts its syllabus
appropriately, who is on their staff and what differentiates their
camp from the others.”

Asking more questions not only helps a parent better understand
what a camp has to offer but also helps the camp itself best
determine what would be best for their child.

“When a parent calls in, I try to get a handle on where
their child played hockey the year before and what level, and what
the parent feels their young hockey player has to work on to get to
the next level the following season,” Willhausen
said.

Hockey camps can now be found from coast
to coast. (Photo courtesy of Bridgton Sports Camps)

And, of course, make sure to ask around at your local rinks.
Fellow parents won’t be shy in commending or critiquing camps
they’ve had experience with.

Don’t overanalyze numbers

While most camps have the best of intentions, don’t get
too hung up on all of the numbers thrown out there in every
brochure or on every website. A higher ratio of coaches to players,
overly lengthy ice time or camp time doesn’t necessarily
guarantee one camp is better than the other.

“People will ask and I could say it’s one-to-one,
and then just fill it up with high school kids,” Killian said
when asked about the importance of the coaches-to-players ratio.
“That just doesn’t accomplish anything and many camps
do that. They’ll have one gray-haired guy that’s an
authority figure and knows a bit about the game, and then he just
has a bunch of local high school kids. There’s 12 coaches on
the ice to 20 kids, and that’s a great ratio, but it’s
not really creating the environment parents want.”

Days and nights

If you’re considering sending your child outside of your
local area to a resident camp, make sure you do some extra
homework.

“Not all camps and not all resident camps are created
equal,” Killian explains. “What’s happening on
the ice and off the ice is your value. With the day camp,
it’s the ice portion and sayonara, they’re gone.
What’s happening from 3 o’clock forward is what creates
the resident piece.

“Parents need to pick up the phone. We love those
conversations because at our camps, they’re staying at $300
million resort facilities. It’s different than many of the
resident camps where there’s cabins, no air conditioning and
they’re eating cafeteria food. They get to eat at some nice
restaurants and they get to go whitewater rafting.”

If you plan on shipping your kid off for an extended period of
time, don’t do so blindly.

Find uniqueness

While all camps are built around the same principles, try to
find ones that offer unique elements that are both fun and
beneficial to your child’s development.

CAN/AM’s Family Program is a great example.

“I’ve never seen another camp like it,”
Wellhausen said. “If you come out to Lake Placid, you
actually skate with your child on the ice every day as part of the
camp. You do drills both with your child and with just adults.
There’s a lot of drills that are interactive with your own
kids. It’s really geared around fun. The development is
there, too, but you can spend priceless memories on the ice with
your own child.”

Make sure it’s fun

What’s the best way to find out if your child is having a
blast or itching to get in the car and go home? Stick around the
rink for a bit.

Good camp instructors recognize the
importance of fun. (Photo courtesy of SuperSkills Hockey)

“If parents stay and watch, they get a good feel,”
Martiniello said. “Just talk to your kid after the first day
of camp. He’s going to know whether he had fun or not. Just
ask him if he had fun and then worry about what they learned
afterward. I fully believe if kids are having fun, the learning
part will come easier and faster.

“If they’re at camp and miserable because it’s
like boot camp, and they’re getting beat up all day long and
skated into the ground, he’s not going to come out the same
as he would if he was having some fun.”

Judging value

Knowing whether or not your son or daughter is enjoying himself
at camp will be pretty easy to determine. But at the end of the
day, for many parents, hockey camps can be a pretty sizable
investment. The best ones out there are capable of balancing work
and fun.

“If they’re not having fun at camp, it’s not
worth it for them and it’s not worth it for us,”
Martiniello said. “To beat a kid up in the summertime when
it’s 80 degrees outside and he can be at the beach
isn’t going to be productive. If he’s having fun,
enjoying himself and can’t wait to come the next day, you
know you’re going to get the best out of him and be able to
push him harder.”

If a camp can achieve that, it shouldn’t be long before
the results of your child’s experience are imminent.

“I think value would be if your kid comes home after
having a great time and you can see that there is something
different about their game that following September at tryouts,
whether it’s an emotional side or a physical side,”
Wellhausen said. “You can see if the intensity is ratcheted
up a notch or that your kid actually does stride out better as a
skater, he’s handling the puck better, he’s got his
eyes up more and knows where to be on the ice. That’s a
direct result of choosing the right camp for your kid.”

This article originally appeared in the April 2012 issue of
New England Hockey Journal.